Biffle and Kahne Greet Media in Richmond

Two Fords, David Stremme in the No. 26 Air National Guard Ford and David Gilliland in the No. 37 Taco Bell Ford, have to qualify on time.

Ford has 28 all-time NSCS wins at Richmond.

The last Ford NSCS win at RIR came in the 2005 fall race with Kurt Busch.

Kasey Kahne is the last active Ford driver with a NSCS win at RIR, taking the checkered flag in the 2005 spring race for Dodge.

Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion, unveiled a special 25th anniversary Budweiser paint scheme for Sunday’s race at Richmond a track he won at in 2005. Kahne, who sits 23rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, spoke about his past success at RIR.

KASEY KAHNE – No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion – “You know I really like the way this car looks. D.W. made it look really good back in ’85, winning three races and winning here at Richmond, so I am excited to be in that same car. I look forward to trying to run really strong tomorrow night. We are trying some different things from where we were at Phoenix, so I think hopefully we are on the right track. I think we will run better here than we were at Phoenix. Hopefully we will lead laps and have a shot to win. We have won here before, so hopefully we can do that again.”

DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT TRYING TO GET IN ANOTHER DRIVERS HEAD AND MESSING WITH THEM AT ALL? “Not really. At times it has crossed my mind in certain situations, but not right now. I don’t have anybody in mind to mess with now, but I have done that in the past. It doesn’t always work though.”

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, is the top Ford in the latest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, ranking third. Biffle has yet to win at RIR, but did take the pole in the 2006 spring race and discussed track conditions, trying to get that first Ford win out of the way and how to race a four-time champion.

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – HOW ARE THE TRACK CONDITIONS OUT THERE TODAY? “It can get pretty slippery out there. It makes it challenging to practice in the middle of the day and then race in the evening. As long as we don’t get our car too far off and are getting good balance and drivability and we look forward to tomorrow night.”

DID YOU LEARN ENOUGH TODAY TO KNOW IF YOU CAN GO WITHOUT TIRES IN A LATE CAUTION TOMORROW NIGHT? “That is always a what if situation. Do you have six guys stay out behind you so fresh tires are three rows back and then four guys took two and the rest have four? It all depends. If a guy starts behind you, or one or two behind you have fresh tires then you are probably a sitting duck. It depends on the situation, how many laps to go and how many cars stayed out with you on old tires. The perfect scenario is that four or five cars behind you that stayed out, four or five cars took two and then on back is four tires. That would be the perfect scenario for a 10-lap shootout. You just never know until you get there though.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK AT SITUATIONS WHERE WINNING CARS FAIL INSPECTION BUT STILL KEEP THE WIN? “Traditionally over the years, NASCAR has not taken the win away. That is different in short-track racing where I came up through. If you are on the track in the series we promote, and you are light, or over-height then you get the win taken away. You get last place points and money and position. It is tradition though. We have seen a lot of things change is this sport though. We have double-file restarts now, we have the three attempts to finish under green. I wouldn’t doubt that maybe someday they take a look at that scenario. I am okay with it either way. It is a pretty big penalty to take your points and money. It is done like that at the short tracks. I think it is different if you are blatantly cheating with a big engine or something like that and it is obvious that all you are trying to do is win. I think there are differences between that or having something that just doesn’t quite pass inspection. I am okay with it either way though.

HOW DO YOU LIKE RICHMOND AND THE TRACK HERE, AND WHAT IS IT LIKE RACING AT NIGHT HERE? “It is a lot of fun racing at night here. This race track is a ton of fun night racing. I haven’t sat in the grandstands at a lot of race tracks, but about eight years ago I sat in the stands for a Nationwide race here and watched Mark Martin and Jeff Burton battle it out. This is one of the best race tracks. I had the most fun watching a race from the grandstands here. It is a fun track to race on, I like it, but it presents its challenges too. It is a tough track to race on.”

THE LONGER WE GO THROUGH THE SEASON AND FORD REMAINS WINLESS, DOES IT BECOME LIKE YOU ARE CARRYING AN ANVIL AROUND WITH YOU? “Yeah, we are carrying that anvil and we are ready to conk someone in the head with it. It is tough. We want to win. I thought I had an opportunity to win last week but they kept wrecking behind us. I was going to do what Kevin Harvick did. I was pushing Jamie. I pushed him off the restart twice. We just couldn’t get two laps done. I ended up second and started on the outside front row. I don’t know if Tony’s (Stewart) car ran out of gas, or he spun the tires or what but when we took off he just didn’t go. Unfortunately that stuck us. He went to the topside and gave the lane behind us a run and we got shuffled out. We will keep cracking at it though. One encouraging thing is that we are close. Darlington is a really good track for me. So is Dover. I have run well here at Richmond too. We have some good tracks coming up for us, so we will keep cracking at it.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE A FOUR-TIME CHAMPION LIKE JIMMIE JOHNSON MAYBE TRIES THING BECAUSE YOU FEEL INVINCIBLE A LITTLE BIT, OR DO YOU THINK YOU GUYS ARE RACING HIM A LITTLE HARDER NOW? “I think anybody can make mistakes. It doesn’t matter if you are a four time champion or not. I didn’t see the whole replay of the race last week, but I did see him cut down in front of the 24 trying to stop that line. I think he underestimated how fast those guys were coming. I think he thought he was clear and could squeeze over. He was close, but he was four feet short. He got a little over anxious maybe. Maybe he was trying a little hard because he was back 10th or 12th and wanted to move up. If you car isn’t running as well I think you try to make things happen. Everybody makes mistakes and that is what he did there. He moved over too soon and took us both out. I don’t race him any harder than anybody else.”